Combining the timeless qualities of classical music with the modern brutality of metal is no easy feat, though Finland’s Apocalyptica have been doing it for two decades now. Fusing the two with absolute style and seamless talent, the four-piece has announced a long-overdue Australian tour, to coincide with the release of their brand spanking new album 7th Symphony.

Joining the Euro-rockers for the project was Joe Baressi, the mastermind behind previous Tool and Queens of The Stone Age’s releases. Together the team enlisted the help of Gavin Rossdale (Bush), Brent Smith (Shinedown), Joe Duplantier (Gojira) and Diane Warren (Award winning songwriter for artists like Aerosmith, Toni Braxton and Celine Dion) to create an album that draws some parallels to previous release World’s Collide, though stands alone as its own individual entity entirely.

Maybe this is due to the point of difference that the band spent time in the recording booth naked, a strange tactic that adds to the vulnerable nature of the release: “We decided to play it naked”, songwriter Eicca Toppinen says. “It was a moment where there were four guys naked in the room just playing acoustic music. Being naked always brings good feelings. Immediately, it was much more fun.”

This tour will be remembered as the time Apocalyptica lost their Australian virginity, having never played our stages before. Though with a solid feathers-in-the-cap in the form of 4 million album sales worldwide and a live show so spectacular that Aussie fans have even heard rumours, they are sure to arrive as crowd favourites.